


Little Owlet

by ApplePi_16



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Childhood Trauma, How Do I Tag, M/M, Minor Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Minor Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, Minor Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, My First Fanfic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-05-29 10:08:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15070856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ApplePi_16/pseuds/ApplePi_16
Summary: Bokuto's a firefighter. Akaashi's a doctor for kids. They're married.One night Bokuto rescues a child, he brings him back to the hospital. Akaashi later finds out that the kid's parent - who are dead - had done some pretty horrible things to the child. The two husbands slowly but surely fall in love with the scared, scarred and quite sunshine of a child. They've never really thought of having kids of their own until now.I'm sorry, idk how to do summaries.





	1. Orange Flame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bokuto's a firefighter. Akaashi's a doctor for kids. They're married.
> 
> One night Bokuto rescues a child, he brings him back to the hospital. Akaashi later finds out that the kid's parent - who are dead - had done some pretty horrible things to the child. The two husbands slowly but surely fall in love with the scared, scarred and quite sunshine of a child. They've never really thought of having kids of their own until now.
> 
> I'm sorry, idk how to do summaries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh thanks for giving this story a chance! It's something I've been wanting to write for awhile no, but I've never really had the biggest confidence in myself to do it. But here we are! So far I've got 9 chapters planned, I'm thinking this story will go for around 15 or less chapters, not too sure yet, we'll see where my brain takes me XD
> 
> Things to NOTE while reading:  
> Slow-smoldering Fire - often, house fires can start with a smouldering fire, cigarettes that are left alone could be the cause. Smoldering fires usually, have high levels of thick smoke. It can turn into fast-flame fires depending on the time they are left to do their damage and the other substances that the fire comes into contact with.
> 
> Fast-flaming Fires - have more flames than smoldering fires and tend to produce lower quantities of smoke.
> 
> I used the word 'pole' for a type of equipment used to help hold ceilings up during fires, I couldn't find a name for it when I researched, I don't even know if there's such thing but yeah.
> 
> Okay enjoy!

An annoying hooting sound blared throughout the small room, the first to jolt awake was Akaashi as he was the lighter sleeper of the two, on reflex he tried – tried – to reach for the offending phone as it had woken him up on his day off. Having matching ring tones had its negatives, as he could never tell which of the two phones were ringing, he’d try to change his ring tone on more than one occasion but his husband had insisted on matching, which if you were close with the neutral, cold faced man you’d know that he could never truly say no to his over excited husband.

Again he tried to reach for the phone that was increasing in volume as the seconds passed, however he had an arm secured around his waist in a protective manner and only tightened as he tried to move away.

Giving up he smacked the arm lightly, “Koutarou, your phone is ringing,” he guessed. He got incoherent mumbles in return. The hooting stopped, Akaashi told himself if it didn’t ring again then it wouldn’t have been that important, but as fate would have it, the annoying hooting came back.

He tried again, this time harder, elbowing the pure muscled chest behind him, a chest he would’ve appreciated on any other day, “Koutarou. Your phone is ringing.”

A whin escaped the other man’s mouth before he responded with a gruff, scratchy voice “Keijiiiiii, I was having an awesome dreeeaammm –.” Cutting him off Akaashi was finally able to get out of his husband’s hold before wiggling that extra centimetre to the phone.  Without looking at the caller id Akaashi silently hands the phone – which was in fact Bokuto’s – to the whiny man beside to him.

With an exaggerated huff the man took it without further voicing his annoyance of getting woken up from his ‘awesome’ dream. “Hello?”

The voice on the other side of the phone was by no means quite. “What the fuck have you been doing!? I had to call you twice tonight. Get your ass here, Kuroo and Daichi are already at the place while I’m here sitting on my ass doing shit all waiting for your annoying self.”

It took a second for Bokuto’s brain to finally get working, but once it did, “SHIT! Why didn’t you call me earlier Iwaizumi!?” He threw the blankets off himself which in turn flew off his husband, grabbing for whatever piece of clothing he could reach off the floor all while listen to Iwaizumi yelling his ear off.

“Excuse me!? I called you once before! How the fuck did you not hear that annoying hooting noise or whatever? Actually no. How the fuck were actually able to pass fire fighter academy?? You sleep like a bloody log, for fuck sakes you should’ve stuck to studying zoology. But noooo you wanted to save people, which by the way, you’re doing a great job at right now.”

Bokuto gave a hearty laugh before giving Iwaizumi a cocky answer, “I’ve saved a lot more people than you remember?”

“You. Fucker. Get your ass here right now, I’m going to rip you a new one!”

Another booming laugh follows, “I’ll be there in 2 minutes, let me just – Ah! Thanks babe.” Bokuto takes the keys Akaashi holds out to him. “I’ll be there in 2, get the truck started.”

“Any later and I’m making you run to the house yourself asshat.” Iwaizumi ends the call abruptly without a goodbye, which was rude, but could you blame him.

“Okay, okay, did I forget anything?” Bokuto asked while slipping his boots on in a haste.

“You always do.” Akaashi responded knowingly, a loving smile spreads across his face.

“Huh? I do? What?” He stands up and turns around to face his husband.

Answering him Akaashi pulls Bokuto down by his neck before placing a lingering kiss on his mouth. They pull apart a few seconds later, Akaashi still holding him down so they can lean their foreheads onto each other’s. The breaths between them getting mixed.

He says it in a hush tone, scared to burst the bubble they’ve created around themselves, “Go save em. Be safe. And make sure you come back to me.”

Bokuto smiles the brightest he could muster up at 3 am in the morning, and applies more pressure to Akaashi’s forehead before responding in the same hush tone his husband used, “Don’t I always?”

Akaashi stares up and into those endearing eyes before placing one last kiss on Bokuto’s lips and reluctantly letting his neck go, “I love you.”

“But I love you more. I’ll see you at the hospital?” Bokuto says whilst making his way out of the door, turning around to see his husband’s answer – a small nod - before finally leaving.  

.

.

.

Bokuto was able to make it to the fire station in under a minute, it helped that they lived within a five minute walking distance from both the fire station and hospital. And well, when Bokuto ran at full speed he could make it in under a minute.

He could already see Iwaizumi in the driver’s seat from a few meters away, Bokuto ran up to the passenger’s side of the truck, climbed in and buckled up. Iwaizumi throws him his uniform.

“Took you long enough.” He turns the ignition on, the lights of the trucks go on and the sirens echoes throughout the neighbourhood, cutting into the once silent environment. 

Choosing to ignore what Iwaizumi had said to him Bokuto begins to put on his uniform and equipment. Before Bokuto has time to ask, Iwaizumi, as always is one step ahead.

“The house is a few blocks away, it’s estimated that the fire started at around 2.00, we got the call at 2.55 from the neighbours living next door. Kuroo and Daichi had  informed me it’s slow-smouldering, however they had just informed me it could become fast-flame soon. They said they’ve already evacuated people from within a two-hundred meter radius of the house as well as the people living on the same street, they’re starting to evacuate further than that as I stated, it could become a fast-flame real soon.”

Upon hearing slow-smouldering Bokuto had reached for two smoke masks. “Have they rescued anyone from within the house?”

Iwaizumi gives him a  side glance before looking straight ahead again. “They found two civilians in the house, however when they were taken out. They were dead…..even before the fire happened.”

Bokuto gives Iwaizumi a look, not too sure on how to respond to the new information given. It seems he didn’t have to as Iwaizumi continued, “drug overdose. The fire started from a cigarette.”

Bokuto had no time to respond to this as Iwaizumi pulled over to the side and parked. They both got out, Bokuto handed Iwaizumi a smoke masks while putting his own on. He went ahead of Iwaizumi to meet up with Kuroo and Daichi, who were standing in front of the house, staring at the flames, deciding if it’s safe to re-enter and make one more round.

“What’s the status?” Bokuto asked whilst jogging up behind the two.

Startled the two turned around. Daichi was first to recover, “it’s on the verge of a fast-flame. I don’t know if I want to risk going i-.”

Bokuto cuts Daichi off, “there’s someone else in that house.” He looks at the two and Iwaizumi – whom had just arrived from giving instructions to the other firemen -  with determined eyes. The thing about Bokuto was, he wasa man that relied on his instincts. Instincts which have never failed him and it’s not going to start now either.

Without arguing Daichi straightens up and nods, “right. Okay. Iwaizumi and I will take up stairs and you and Kuroo take downstairs. 10 minutes is all I’m giving us, I don’t know how much longer the house will hold up or how much longer till it’s a fast-flame. Everyone take an extra mask with you.”

With that the four make their way towards the house, passing a truck on the way, taking a mask as instructed. Upon entering the four split up into their assigned pairs, Daichi taking upstair’s left and Iwaizumi searches upstair’s right while Kuroo takes the bottom left and Bokuto looks around the bottom right of the house.

“Is anyone there?” “Hello!?” “Yell out if you can hear me!” This went on for five minutes, before the three men meet up at the front of the stairs. “I found no one. Iwaizumi?” Daichi looked over to his partner, whom had shook his head in response.

“There’s no one on my side either. Bo! You find anyone?” Kuroo called out to Bokuto as he was the only that hadn’t returned to the meet up point, the front of the stairs.

No answer.

The three men looked at each other before Daichi leads the way to the right side of the house, in search for Bokuto. They find him within seconds – after rounding the corner - standing in the what they guess is the living room, eyes moving from corner to corner, brows scrunched up in both frustration and confusion.

The first to speak is none other than his bro Kuroo, “Bo, we found no one, Daichi’s calling it. We should head out soon, the house looks like it may collapse any minute now.”

“No.” His eyes still move frantically around the house in search for something, anything that could possibly give him a clue.

“Bo –“

“No. I feel it. There’s someone still in here. My instincts are telling me there’s someone here, we’re missing some-“

“Bo! We’ve checked, double checked, triple checked the whole house, we’ve missed nothing! Instincts can be wrong sometimes.”

“No. I know it. We just-“

“We’re leaving.” Kuroo begins to walk towards Bokuto, moving to grab the man’s arm, attempting to pull him towards the front door. Bokuto stays put, looking, searching. Kuroo lets out an exasperated sigh before saying the one thing that’ll get Bokuto moving without a second thought, “Bo, Akaashi. Think about Akaashi.” With that Bokuto is broken out of his trance, he looks over to Kuroo, and then behind him where Daichi and Iwaizumi are standing. He stares, and then he nods. Eyes downcast as Kuroo helps lead him towards the door.

When they get to the entrance of the house with Bokuto is moping behind, Kuroo keeps his hand on his wrist as a safety precaution, not allowing Bokuto the chance to run back in. While moping and keeping his eyes fixed on the ground something catches Bokuto’s attention from the corner of his eyes, smoke. But not just the smoke that was already moving around the house wildly, but smoke that looked like it was escaping out of something, a crack, a hole, Bokuto’s eyes slowly move up, looking at the smoke climbing up; staring, he’s missing something.

He barely sees it, because it’s covered by what was once a big shoe rack, but due to the cracks and holes made by the fire Bokuto was able to see a door behind it. He yanks his wrist free form Kuroo’s hold and takes to big strides towards the big shoe rack, attempting to push it out of the way.

“Bo –“ Kuroo begins in a warning tone but once Bokuto was able to push the massive rack out of the way the door was visible, a door leading to – what everyone assumed – the basement. Kuroo stared in shock. Shocked, wondering how’d they missed that.

Bokuto is the one to get him moving and the other two who were out of the door by then. “Iwaizumi! Daichi! Get the pole! We’re gonna need something to hold up the ceiling if anything! Kuroo! – he looks at Kuroo - Come with me.”

The three men waste no time in following the directions, Daichi yells for the others to get the pole whilst Iwaizumi grabs a blanket. Kuroo moves towards Bokuto, standing behind him, waiting for Bokuto to break the door down. The door had no chance when going up against Bokuto’s well-built body. Once Bokuto breaks the door off its hinges Kuroo helps arry the door out of the way, placing it on the floor. They’re greeted with roaring fire, having been in this line of work neither men are scared as they enter without a second thought.

Bokuto leads the way down the stairs as he’s better than the others in deciphering which steps are safe enough to put their whole body weight on without it breaking. It made his job harder as the steps were made of wood, wood that could turn into ash any minute now, it was a miracle it hadn’t happened yet thought Kuroo. The two men slowly but hastily made their way down the stairs. There was fire everywhere, but it began to get even wilder as oxygen was let in through the opened doorway.

Reaching the end of the stairs Bokuto and Kuroo began the search, screaming out for anyone, looking everywhere, making sure to check for anymore hidden or blocked doors. Daichi and Iwaizumi made it back with the pole, placing one end on the ground and pushing the pole up to make sure it held up the ceiling that was in front of the doorway, keeping the exit open, free from any rubble. 

Whilst making sure the pole was doing its job and was secured Daichi yelled, “Oi! I’m giving you 3 minutes and that’s all! The ceiling isn’t going to hold up much longer!”

“I’m not seeing or hearing anyone down here so far! Bo, what about you!?”

“Fucking nothing! Hello!!? Is anybody here!? Yell if you can hear us!” Bokuto was slowly getting frustrated, he was positive there was someone, they just weren’t looking enough, they were missing something.

“Oi! It ain’t gonna hold much longer! Get your asses up here!” Iwaizumi demanded.

“Bo, let’s go! We’ve checked. We have to go now!” Kuroo made his way towards Bokuto, placing his hand on his tense shoulder.

Bokuto’s eyes look around the basement one last time before reluctantly nodding his head and turns to follow. Not trusting Bokuto to lead the way up while he’s moping Kuroo slowly ascends the stairs, placing one of his foot on a step, tapping lightly before proceeding to put his whole body weight on it. Bokuto follows suit quietly.

They’re five steps away to the top when Bokuto decides to turn and look around the basement one last time, making sure that they’ve not missed anything, at all. He does one sweep and comes back, he’s about to turn around again until something **orange** in the far corner diagonal from him catches his eyes. He does a double take, and surely this orange is a tad shade lighter than the angry orange, red and yellow that surrounds it.

“THERE’S A CHILD!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> O.O Was it okay?  
> If there were any mistakes please tell me. Any comment would be appreciated!!  
> Okay there wasn't much Akaashi and Bokuto moments but there will be the following chapters.  
> As for the updates, there's not going to be any set date, because I really should be studying for my HSC that's happening in October (?) This chapter wasn't even supposed to happen until the end of this year, but I procrastinated hehe. So really the next chapter could happen in 2 weeks? A month? Idk. But the latest I will update by will be sometime in November (hopefully), after HSC. Don't say I didn't warn ya.


	2. Promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hey, hey, kid.” Bokuto tilts the child up so he’s able to look him in the eyes. Once the boy looks at him, he continues, “everything is going to be alright. I promise.” The boy says nothing, calms down – slightly – and continues to stare up at Bokuto. Taking the silence as an okay, Bokuto cradles the child close to his chest, keeping the child’s face away from anymore fire and smoke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay well someone yet again procrastinated and created a whole new chapter.....  
> Thank you so much for all the Kudos and comments from the previous chapter!! It really means a lot, keeping my doubts about this story away.   
> If you didn't notice I've also added two new tags, so be sure to check that.   
> Please don't be afraid to point out any mistakes, I've read through the story quite a lot of times, but I'm bound to miss something.  
> Anyways~ I hope you enjoy this chapter ^_^

All three men will their eyes to see past the violent flames and black clouds of smoke; zeroing their attention on the corner Bokuto was pointing at.

Kuroo is first to spot the difference between the flames and the small bush of orange – _hair?_ – that was sticking out. “Holy Fu-“ “Kuroo, I’m going to jump so hold onto the rails. Pass me the blanket once I have the kid.” With that Bokuto lunges into the fire without further warning.

Once landing on the floor and standing in front of the child – who seems to be having trouble breathing – Bokuto wastes no time in scooping him up. Bokuto further notes the streak of tears that stain the kid’s face. Upon being picked up the child opens his eyes and begins to thrash around in Bokuto’s arms, kicking and screaming. _Why didn’t he scream out to us?_ Cutting his thoughts short, Kuroo yells out his name and throws him the fire blanket. Bokuto catches it with one hand easily, as he slowly bends one leg to sit the child on, he then proceeds to put the smoke mask on him. It was not an easy feat as the child begins to thrash more violently than before, Bokuto receives a few small scratches from him, however, unfazed he succeeds on getting the mask securely on the child. Next he wraps the child up in the blanket, going as far as to tighten the blanket around his body, keeping the violent movements to a minimum. This however, doesn’t stop the kid from trying to vigorously wiggle his way out of it.

“Hey, hey, kid.” Bokuto tilts the child up so he’s able to look him in the eyes. Once the boy looks at him, he continues, “everything is going to be alright. I promise.” The boy says nothing, calms down – slightly – and continues to stare up at Bokuto. Taking the silence as an okay, Bokuto cradles the child close to his chest, keeping the child’s face away from anymore fire and smoke.

Bokuto then makes a mad dash for the stairs. He quickly makes his way up the stairs, all while being very cautious of where he steps, keeping in mind the fire has had more time to eat away at them. Once on top of the stairs Bokuto runs past all three men, knowing they won’t be far behind him, he continues to run towards the outside.

“Paramedics! I need the paramedics!” Having made it through the front door Bokuto yells for medical assistance. “Hey little man I to-“ Bokuto stops mid-sentence as he looks down at the boy and realises that his passed out. Alarms go off in Bokuto’s head. _Did he breathe in too much smoke? Is he dehydrated? Ah fuck, this is all my fault, if only I had fou-_ Stopping his thoughts, and nearly self-hatred, the paramedics rush over with the gurney.

The boy is taken from Bokuto’s arms and gently placed onto the gurney. The paramedics then begin to wheel the boy away to the closest ambulance. Bokuto watches, resisting the urge to run after them, this is until he feels a heavy hand on his right shoulder. He looks behind him and realises the hand belongs to no other than his bro Kuroo. Behind Kuroo is Iwaizumi and Daichi, both whom are looking at Bokuto. All four stay silent. Staring. Their conversation was short. Daichi gives Bokuto a nod and a short command, “go.” 

Bokuto runs towards the ambulance, arriving just in time to jam his hand into the closing doors, he swings it open, takes a deep breath, “I’m going with – the boy – you.”

.

.

.

As promised Akaashi stands in front of the ER doors, though all his patients are children, his first ever patient was his husband. Through those 6 years of studying medicine, and the human anatomy, Bokuto had always been his “test subject”, from major injuries such as fractures to the tiniest of cuts that only needed a little kiss to take away the pain. And even though he’s graduated with a Doctor’s degree,  and decided to take the child’s doctor path, Bokuto still to this day only ever trusts his life with Akaashi. If it’s not Akaashi, Bokuto will throw a tantrum like  or even worse than a 5 year old.

And this is how Akaashi, on his day off at 3.45am is standing in the entry way of ER, waiting for his husband to either walk through the doors with an injured……something. Bokuto is known to be reckless, always throwing his life away for another. He never thinks twice. Be it jumping into blasting hot fire to rescue a person or animal or even a person’s precious family heirloom. Held a gun point? You best believe Akaashi’s stupid, reckless, selfless, _charming, hot, super fine_ – you get the gist – husband will switch positions with you in a heartbeat. One of the many traits that Akaashi absolutely adores about his husband, and why he married him. Those big guns and thighs may have been part of the reason why he said yes to Bokuto’s proposal, maybe.

Cutting himself out of his own train of thought Akaashi glances down at his wrist watch, 4.00am. Its been 15 minutes. With every ticking minute, Akaashi’s anxieties slowly eat away at him. The one thing he fears more than seeing his husband walk through those doors with a giant cut across his chest, a broken arm, limping on his one good leg and perhaps burns, is that he doesn’t walk or limp or get rolled in through those doors at all. Because no matter what, Bokuto will always make his way to Akaashi, even if he has to crawl his way there, he promised him.

Anxiety gets the better of him, and he glances down at his wrist watch once again, 4.0 – “KEIJIIIIIIII!!!!” Always the entrance. Akaashi whips his head up to look at the damage. His husband is assisting in getting the gurney into the hospital, holding onto the metal rails that help prevent the patient from falling off it, rushing towards Akaashi. He begins to make his way towards the moving gurney, “Keiji come quick!!” Hearing the urgency in his husband’s voice makes him speed up the slightest bit.

Once Akaashi is there he begins to check the patient – a child this time – all whilst the paramedics continue in the direction of the child’s ward. When he arrives and begins to check on the child Bokuto releases the metal rail and moves aside for his husband. However, he still follows close behind, eyes continuously skimming over the child.

Akaashi takes his pen light out of his breast pocket, opens the child’s eye and shines the light into them, checking for a response – if the child’s pupil will go smaller, in response to the light. The reaction is slow. Not a good sign.

“He’s not breathing,” a nurse states. Bokuto whips his head up to look at her.

Akaashi quickly takes out his stethoscope and puts it against the boy’s chest. Beat……..beat………..beat…………..beat…………….. “His heart rate is decreasing as well,” Akaashi also states. Once again Bokuto whips his head up, now looking at his husband, his hands shake beside him, curled up into a fist.  Akaashi is quick to give out a command, “take him into the surgery room immediately! We need to get the carbon dioxide out of him as quick as possible!” The paramedics begin to speed up, changing course, moving towards the surgery room.

Bokuto slows down as they get closer to the room, his run turns into a jog, then a trot, then a walk, then nothing. He stops 2 metres away from the doors. He watches as they take the child into the surgery room. Watches his husband shout out commands and yells for more nurses. Watches the doors close. Sees the surgery light go on. He stares. At this point there’s nothing else he can do but wait. So he moves to the seats that are placed just outside the surgery room, sits down and waits.

.

.

.

It’s been 2 hours. Bokuto knows this because his not once looked away from the clock on the opposite wall. _What’s taking so long? 2 hours is way too long for just taking out carbon dioxide isn’t it? Ahh shit. This is all my fault, if only I had gotten to him quicker. What if he had a bigger injury? God Koutarou why didn’t you find him sooner? You’re a failure. Useless. Stu-_

Beep. The surgery light turns off. Click. The doors open.

Bokuto is on his feet as soon as he hears the sounds. Ready to bombard Akaashi with questions. However all words die in his throat as soon as he sees how exhausted Akaashi looks. Akaashi stumbles his way towards Bokuto, nearly falling half way, Bokuto is quick to move forward and catch him. 

Bokuto holds onto Akaashi whilst leading him to the seats. Once seated he pulls Akaashi towards him, embracing him. He then proceeds to whisper small compliments and reassurance into Akaashi’s ear – who’s resting his head on his shoulder, “you did a great job today. Good job. Everything is over.” Though on the outside Akaashi looks calm and collected, he out of all the doctors in this hospital stresses over saving a person’s life – especially a child – till his mentally, emotionally and physically exhausted. He always puts unnecessary pressure on himself, one of the many traits the two husbands share.

Bokuto’s right shoulder begins to feel warm, _ah he’s crying._ The best thing about knowing someone for years is that you know when to talk and when to not. So he sits there silently embracing his husband, using his free hand to rub soothing circles on his back, giving him time to collect his thoughts as well as calm him down.  

After sitting in the warmth and comfort of his husband, Akaashi finally moves to embrace Bokuto back. Bokuto gives him a reassuring squeeze, telling him that ‘I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere. I promise.’

Akaashi takes a big inhale and a big exhale before turning his head towards Bokuto’s face. He looks into his eyes, before finally, finally speaking. “They’re cleaning him up right now, he should be out in a bit.” Bokuto turns to look at the clock once again, 6.15am.  

“He.” Bokuto’s attention is brought back to his husband, “he-“ Akaashi takes a deep breath, Bokuto gives him a gentle squeeze, silently telling him to go on. “He wasn’t breathing for a while Kou.” Bokuto’s arms unconsciously tightens around his husband.

“We got him back after a few minutes-“ Bokuto releases a breath he didn’t even know he was holding, “other than the usual: dehydration and carbon dioxide intake, he was completely fine.” Bokuto’s whole body at that moment seemed to have relaxed in an instant.

“But-“ Akaashi suddenly begins to sob – so much for being relaxed – and buries his face into Bokuto’s shoulder. “We thought wrong,” Bokuto takes a deep breath preparing for the worst, “we….had to check him over for any other injuries,” a sob racks Akaashi’s whole body, hiccupping to get oxygen into him, “there were so much all over his body, cuts fresh and old. Healed cuts on top of older healed ones. Burn marks done by cigarettes and fractures and so much more.” Stunned, Bokuto doesn’t know what to do, he honestly wasn’t expecting this; sure a fracture or broken bone from something falling on the poor child during the fire, but not this.

It then strikes him that Akaashi isn’t just crying from all the stress and sadness, but most importantly, because he’s angry. Seething. _Whoever his ‘parents’ were I’m glad they’re dead._ Though that’s being a bit harsh, Bokuto’s just as angry, and when your angry you’re brain – especially Bokuto’s – has no filter. Bokuto in all honesty would’ve have like if the monsters were still alive so he could make them suffer and go through greater hell than what this poor child had been through.  

The two men don’t exchange anymore words; there’s nothing else left  to say, they sit in each other’s embrace for the remainder of the time – waiting for the boy to come out.  

.

.

.

It’s not until another 10 minutes later that the doors open once again, but this time with a young boy laying on top of a gurney, bandaged up, hooked up with an IV drip, a nasal cannula placed in his nose, sleeping.

Akaashi is first to stand up. He then moves to grab Bokuto’s hand, lacing them together. Bokuto stands up silently, following close behind his husband as he gives out directions.

“Take him to room 116. Fukunaga-san can you go ahead and get me the files so I can fill them out.”

Bokuto tunes out the sounds and voices in favour of walking behind silently whilst looking at the boy; looking at all the bandages covering the majority of the boy’s body. To say Bokuto was angry was an understatement. He was furious, livid, raging.  He squeezes his husband’s hand tightly, Akaashi gives Bokuto a side glance, squeezes his hand back before turning his attention back to the nurse that’s talking to him.

Once getting the boy situated into his private room and getting the files off of Fukunaga Akaashi stands at the foot of the bed filling in what he can for now:

Room: 116                             

Name: –

Age: 4 (Akaashi knows this due to the boys teeth size)

Doctor: Bokuto Akaashi Keiji

Medical State on Admission: Dehydration, intake of carbon dioxide, minor burns, fractures – hands/wrists, arms, and right leg

Additional Information: No sudden loud sounds as the boy may have trauma from fire as well as childhood.

Whilst Akaashi busies himself with filling out the files Bokuto stands outside, silently staring into the room through the room’s window. Bokuto watches the boy’s chest rise and fall as he sleeps. His attention then shifts to his husband when he begins to move towards the door.

Akaashi gently opens and closes the door behind him, being careful not to wake up the child. He then slips the files he’d just filled out into the holder on the door, leaving it there for other nurses and doctors to read if needed. Akaashi then turns around to face his husband, “we should go home now, there’s nothing else we can do. For now at least. He needs his rest and so do we.” Akaashi then turns back around, heading towards the elevators, “you also need a shower Kou-“ Realising his husband is not following behind him as he thought he would, Akaashi once again turns back around.

Bokuto is still standing outside the room’s window, looking into the room, watching the boy. His hands at his sides, clenched up into fists, knuckles slowly turning white. Akaashi walks back towards his husband, and takes his two hands into his own, making the man look at him.

“We’ll come back tomorrow, first thing in the morning I promise. For now we all need our rest and the hospital isn’t going to let you stay here unless you’re sick or injured. Visiting time doesn’t start until 9, so we have to leave for now. Okay Kou?” Bokuto continues to stare into his husband’s exhausted eyes before giving him a defeated nod. He let’s Akaashi pull him down the hall and towards the elevators.

Ding.

Bokuto looks back down the hall and whispers, “we’ll be back. I promise.” Before following his husband into the elevator.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like it? I kinda wasn't really feeling this chapter when I began to type it up, but I slowly started enjoying it half way through, I hope you did too.   
> As for updates I don't know when I'll update. My exams are 6 weeks away, and I don't know anything..should really focus on that.   
> Oh! But I've basically planned out the whole story, it'd be about 12+ chapters!! I've got two endings in my head, I don't know which one to do just yet, so I'm just gonna let the story write itself.   
> As always, if you did enjoy it please leave a comment down below,if you didn't....also leave a comment down below, it really keeps me going XD And if you're feeling generous today maybe kudos? Maybe not? That's cool.   
> Until next time (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧


	3. The Crow's Nest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Koushi said you wanted to ask me something.” Daichi sits across the Bokuto’s, staring at them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BAHAHAHA let it be known I am a notorious LIAR!!! Did i say I'd start studying? I don't remember.  
> Nah, all jokes aside, reading all your comments really motivated me to get another chapter out ASAP! Speaking of comments! THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE THAT COMMENTED AND SAID SUCH NICE THINGS!! YA'LL SPOIL ME!! BECAUSE OF YOU ALL THIS CHAPTER HAPPENED! So I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's shorter than the last two and there's no interactions between the Bokuto's and the child YET! (IT'S COMING I SWEAR)

Sleep had taken over their tired and restless bodies just after 7am; when the sun began  blessing the world with its presence. On any other day Bokuto would’ve appreciated it, but not today. The sunlight bleeding into their room through the gaps of the blinds annoyed Bokuto to no end, leading him to bury himself under the covers, where his husband had long since retreated into. The two men stayed under there tangled up in one another, being the rock they each needed.

 _Bell chi-_ Slam! Bokuto’s hand meet their alarm box shutting it up; it’s currently 9am.  Akaashi groans before turning away from his husband’s arms in favour of crawling out of their burrow and staggering towards the bathroom that’s connected to their room. Bokuto – who is usually very sluggish in the morning – is already up and changing, Akaashi remains silent when he enters the room, getting ready himself. The atmosphere that surrounds them isn’t the usually loving, happy, cosy bubble the two usually share, instead it’s a suffocating type of bubble, filled with guilt, negativity and a bunch of emotions that really shouldn’t be there so early in the goddamn morning – at least that’s what Akaashi thinks.

“Fuckin hell, just get in the bloody hole, you- argh!” Akaashi turns around to see Bokuto attempting to shove a button through the shirt holes. Watching him then put them in the wrong ones has Akaashi walking over towards him. He gives Bokuto’s hands a nudge, replacing them with his. Whilst unbuttoning and rebuttoning his shirt Akaashi kisses Bokuto’s forehead a few times until all the creases disappear, “what do you want for breakfast?”

Bokuto takes a deep breath before answering, “Crow’s Nest.”

“Okay. Let’s go,” entwining their hands together Akaashi leads them out of their apartment.

.

.

.

The Crow’s Nest, a small, homey café owned by one of the Bokuto’s two close friends, the Sawamura couple – well, managed by one of the two, Koushi. Though you’d think Bokuto only chose this specific café because it’s run by their friends, which may or may not lead to discounts, you’d be partially right. But the main reason would be that The Crow’s Nest is conveniently located right next door to the hospital.

Today the bells chime upon their entrance, not the usual ‘Hey Hey Hey!!’ informing the staff familiar with Bokuto that he’s moody, so don’t approach him, unless you want a gloomy conversation.

Bokuto makes a bee line for their usual seats, a small isolated table in the corner of the café; the two love the privacy the corner provides, letting them indulge in each other without the stares of curious strangers passing by. Akaashi makes his way to the counter where Koushi – or Suga, if you’d known him long enough; it just felt weird calling him his name after so many years of calling him his family name, now maiden name – was already waiting with a questioning glaze and flattering smile as Akaashi gets closer.

“What’s wrong with Bokuto this time?” Suga asked, whilst ringing up their orders. Straight black, no sugar – the horror – for Akaashi and one large Chai Latte for Bokuto.

“Something happened at work. I’ll tell the group later.” Akaashi responses whilst attempting to pay, but doesn’t get far as his hand is swatted away by Suga. Raising a brow, Akaashi looks at Suga. Suga responses with a _sweet_ smile and you’d think there was nothing to it; Akaashi would’ve too if it was still high school and he was in second year meeting Suga – the angel – for the first time. Everyone who has met Suga knows that it’s all in the eyes for that man: don’t be blinded by the smile; look at the eyes. They do say that the eyes are the window to the soul. That glint in his eyes say it all, ‘ _till later then.’_

Shaking his head Akaashi turns to make his way towards the corner, but stops mid-way and turns back to face Suga once again. Suga, who’s still behind the counter watches Akaashi scan the café for something – or someone. With an amused smile on he asks, “forget anything?”

Akaashi scans the room once more before looking Suga in the eyes, “where’s Daichi?”

“He’s at the back, getting the deliveries in before leaving for work. Want me to get him?”

Shaking his head Akaashi turns back around, before walking away he looks over his shoulder and says, “no, we’ll wait. Can you get him to meet us just before he leaves? I need to ask him something.” Suga gives him a nod and a genuine smile – this time. Happy with that Akaashi finally makes his way to Bokuto.

Upon arriving Akaashi sees Bokuto curled up in the corner; staring at it – must be very interesting. Bokuto uncurls himself once he hears light footsteps making their way towards him, he looks up at Akaashi; staring at the man, defeated. Akaashi moves to sit next to Bokuto – who in turn moved a bit closer to the corner to accommodate his husband – once seated Akaashi takes his husband’s hands in his and lays his head on Bokuto’s shoulder. Bokuto says nothing, he does however make a move to lean his own head on Akaashi’s and squeezes their hands tighter together.

Not long after, their silent bubble is broken by the sound of two cups meeting the surface of the table and the screeching of a chair on wooden floor boards, as an arm pulls the chair out to make room for the body it belonged to.

“Koushi said you wanted to ask me something.” Daichi sits across the Bokuto’s, staring at them.

Bokuto says nothing as he moves – untangling his right hand from the knot the two husband had created – to pick up his large cup of chai latte. Akaashi however gives him a small nod whilst moving to pick up his cup of black coffee, “yes, it’s about the child you guys rescued last night.” Bokuto, who’s suddenly interested in the conversation stops mid-way in taking another sip in favour of looking at the man sitting next to him with slightly more lively eyes. Akaashi spares him a glance and tightens his hold around Bokuto’s hand before directing his stare back to Daichi.

“Ah yes, how is he doing? Hope he’s doing alright.” Daichi leans forward, placing his arms on the table, looking at the two men. Bokuto’s right hand – which is still holding the cup of chai – tightens its grip around the cup; knuckles going white, this does not go unnoticed by both Daichi and Akaashi.

Akaashi places a hand over Bokuto’s right hand, easing the pressure and dragging the hand back into the ball of entwined hands. Looking at the knot of hands they’ve created once again Akaashi answers Daichi, “with the amount of smoke he inhaled last night it was a miracle we saved him. Just as I thought we were done –“ Bokuto tightens his grip, “I discovered traces of abuse.”

Daichi’s eyes widen as he leans back, taking in the information.

Akaashi gives Daichi some time to process the new bit of information whilst he busies himself with Bokuto’s hands; playing with them, turning them around and touching his palms, tracing the lines.  Daichi then looks up and gives Akaashi an expectant look; telling him to continue. Akaashi takes a deep breath; preparing himself for what he’s about to say next. Bokuto gently squeezes his hands then rubs soothing circles on the back of his hands, Akaashi smiles fondly at his husband’s kind gesture while he moves to once again lay his head on Bokuto’s shoulders before continuing, “while we were checking him over for other injuries that may have occurred during the fire we discovered past childhood abuse and neglect: burns, cuts, fractures, scars, malnourishment – the list goes on.” At one point when Akaashi was talking one of Bokuto’s hands finds its way to his thighs, squeezing him there, giving him more reassurance – which was greatly appreciated by Akaashi.

Once again Daichi’s eyes widen. This time he takes in a deep breath whilst closing his eyes. And again Akaashi gives him time to process all the new information.

After a few minutes Akaashi reveals the main reason why he wanted to talk to Daichi, “because you’re the chief of the fire department I’m pretty sure you work closely with the chief of police. Right?”

Daichi’s only response is a small nod, still baffled by the previous information Akaashi had just given him.

Continuing, Akaashi asks Daichi for a favour, “can you ask Ujishima-san if he could look into the child’s **family** and get back to me about it?” The way Akaashi had said the word ‘family’ sent chills up Daichi’s spine. It’s not everyday you see an angry Akaashi – an extremely livid one at that. Daichi understands that this is something Akaashi needs done – immediately.

Without hesitation Daichi gives them a determined look and a firm nod, “I’ll do everything I can and get back to you as soon as possible. I was going to meet Ujishima right after this and discuss last nights fire.” Satisfied with Daichi’s answer Akaashi’s eyes soften, “thank you.” Daichi gives him another nod and a warm smile.

Satisfied with everything Bokuto is first to stand up, letting go of his husband’s hands – only to reach for it once again. Now with a slight smile on his face – mood slightly lifted due to hearing what his husband plans to do – he looks down at him before he asks, “shall we ?” Akaashi smiles at his husband’s obvious change of mood whilst getting pulled up and off the chair.

They excuse themselves from the café, bidding their friends and the staff goodbye as they make their way out of the door.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHH SEOVJWOBJER who needs to study am I right!??? Not going uni anyways.....a few months from now you may or may not see me in Maccas!! (jokes jokes, I've actually got a plan)  
> But anyways, as always: I don't know when I'm gonna update, leave a comment or a kudos.......or not, that's cool too.  
> I PROMISE YOU'LL SEE THEM INTERACTING WITH THE KID NEXT CHAPTER!! As for how long it'll take for that chapter to come out....well....yeah....  
> Til next time (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧


	4. Get Down!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SLAM!! “Eeeek!”  
> “Has room 116’s child woken up yet!?”   
> The nurse who Bokuto had addressed had fallen out of her chair and crawled under her desk the moment Bokuto’s hands met the table she was stationed at.   
> Having caught his breath Akaashi moves from behind Bokuto, “Koutarou. You’re being too loud, some of the kids could still be sleeping.”   
> “Ah! You’re right Keiji! I’m –“   
> “Koutarou.”   
> Bokuto looks over at Keiji bashfully before shutting his mouth and covering it with his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHH!!!! Guys! I've finally graduated!! Tests and stuff over! Offt, now I have all this free time!!! It's been nearly two months since I've updated!!! Jesus, thank you all for your patience! I hope to update more regularly now, maybe every two weeks, or shorter, really depends when the feeling hits me!!   
> Thank you to all you lovely people that left comments in the last chapter! I really appreciated it, I really wanted to post up another chapter, but I had to really study!!!   
> ANYWAYS!!!!! I hope you enjoy this chapter!!

Bokuto leads the way to the hospital – which is right next door – whilst literally dragging poor Akaashi along with him as he starts jogging. Very soon Bokuto is pulling a very tired and out of breath Akaashi towards the elevator. Bokuto looks over at his husband – as they wait for the elevator to arrive – with a questioning look, “what happened Keiji? Why are you so out of breath?”

A soft glare is sent his way, “well my athletic husband seemed to have forgotten that I don’t exercise as much anymore.” 

Bokuto’s face goes through a series of emotions, realisation, bashful and then embarrassed, he rubs the back of his head with his free hand and he looks over at Akaashi, “ahaha, right. I forgot about that. Sorry Keiji…..” _he’s not done…_ Akaashi waits for Bokuto to further explain himself. Bokuto heaves out a heavy sigh, his whole somewhat ‘positive’ demeanour leaves him as well, “I just wanna go see the kid. I need to know he’s alright.” He now looks over at Akaashi, this time defeated.

Akaashi’s – barely – glare softens, he takes a step closer to Bokuto, cups his left cheek with his right hand and leans in to place a soft kiss on his forehead. Akaashi then moves his lips to just barely touching the shell of Bokuto’s left ear before whispering, “I know love. But you’ve got to calm down, or you might scare the child. Can you do that for me Kou?” “But-“ “Kou. Take a deep breath.”

_Inhale_

“Now release it.”

_Exhale_

“Feeling better?”

Bokuto gives Akaashi a small nod as he lets out another heavy sigh, leaning his head further into the hand that’s on his cheek.

_Ding_

A couple – man and women – step out of the elevator, just as the man is mid-sentence the wife disrupts him and says something – quiet enough that the Bokuto’s aren’t able to hear. However, judging from the man’s reaction – to look over at the two men; who are in a somewhat intimate position – Akaashi could take a good guess at what she had said. The couple walk pass whilst giving the two men disgusted looks, Akaashi rolls his eyes, _honestly it’s the 21 st century, don’t people have other things to worry about. _

“Sorry guys he’s taken,” just as he says this Bokuto goes to grab Akaashi’s ass with his two hands whilst giving the couple an over exaggerated wink. Akaashi in the meantime lets out a surprised gasp before looking over at his husband with wide eyes.

The couple quickly turn around and scurry off towards the exit of the hospital, not once looking back at the two men.

Akaashi was utterly speechless, and then embarrassed; though he didn’t mind PDA that doesn’t stop the embarrassment, especially when his husband is so forward like this….in his workplace. Shaking his head he buries his face into his husband’s shoulder – trying to hide from the world.

Bokuto however takes all this: the embarrassment, the PDA and the people that scurry off with much pride, so he does what Bokuto Koutarou does best. He laughs; a genuine laugh, one that Akaashi hadn’t heard for a long time – 6 hours, which is usually a long time for someone like Bokuto.

After a few minutes of laughter and a few shared kisses the two men finally make their way into the elevator. With lighter hearts, and a clearer mind Akaashi feels a lot more positive – somewhat – about this; going to meet the child. It even seemed like some weight had been lifted off Bokuto’s shoulders.

.

.

.

_Ding_

Once they arrive at level 2; the children’s ward, Bokuto’s whole demeanour changes once again, he grabs Akaashi’s hand and once again drags him down the hall, towards the middle of the ward where all the nurses and doctors stay when not attending to a patient.

_SLAM!!_ “Eeeek!”

“Has room 116’s child woken up yet!?”

The nurse who Bokuto had addressed had fallen out of her chair and crawled under her desk the moment Bokuto’s hands met the table she was stationed at.

Having caught his breath Akaashi moves from behind Bokuto, “Koutarou. You’re being too loud, some of the kids could still be sleeping.”

“Ah! You’re right Keiji! I’m –“

“Koutarou.”

Bokuto looks over at Keiji bashfully before shutting his mouth and covering it with his hands.

Akaashi shakes his head whilst smiling fondly before looking back at the girl – who is still hiding under the table – “Good morning Yachi and Kiyoko. I’m sorry if my husband had given you a fright. As he was asking: has the young boy from earlier today woken up yet?”

Upon hearing that familiar, cool and monotone voice Yachi peeks out from her hiding spot ever so slightly to check if it’s the man she has in mind. After clarifying it is fact Dr.Akaashi she slowly gets out from under her desk, straightens her uniform out before taking her seat next to Kiyoko again, clears her throat and says, “Uh good morning to you too Dr.Akaashi (for less confusion purposes, Keiji requests to be called by his maiden name) and uh B-Bokuto.”

Kiyoko looks at Yachi in slight amusement before turning her attention back to the Bokutos, “No he hasn’t woken up yet, since you left in fact. No one has entered his room yet, as he’d just fallen asleep around 4 hours ago. So he hasn’t had breakfast yet either,” she looks down at her watch “and it is nearly 10, so we’ll have to wake him up soon.”

“Can you let the person in charge of food today leave room 116 for now. We’ll sort breakfast out for him, we want to talk to him when he wakes up first,” he says to Kiyoko, as he considers the fact that the child would still be traumatised, and waking up the child may trigger him, which may lead to a panic attack.

Understanding what Akaashi’s thinking she gives him a curt nod, “of course.”

All the while Akaashi was talking to the two nurses – mainly Kiyoko – Bokuto had been very fidgety standing behind Akaashi trying not to just run down the hall towards room 116. Akaashi should give him a reward for holding it together quite well later on, but for now they should start heading to the room. They bid the two nurses goodbye before making their way down to room 116.

Before entering they look through the room’s window, he’s exactly how they’d left him. Sound asleep. Peaceful. 

Filling with relief, Bokuto’s shoulders slowly relax, and this is not missed by Akaashi, he smiles and grabs his husband’s hand gently before gently nudging him towards the room door. Bokuto opens the door gently, which is out of character for the usual loud and boisterous man that is Bokuto; even in his dejected moods Bokuto tends to slam doors. Akaashi smiles at his husband’s effort in trying not to wake the child up, he looks at the man’s wide shoulders, watches as the muscles move as he pushes the door in, allowing them access to the room. He watches the man tip toe his way towards the only chair in the room, gently walking pass the bed, careful not to knock the rails at the end of it. He watches him slowly get comfortable on the chair, before silently patting his legs – an indication and invitation for Akaashi to sit down. 

Smiling Akaashi wraps his left arm around Bokuto’s neck, throws his leg over to the left and gets comfy on Bokuto’s sturdy lap, while Bokuto wraps his arms around his waist protectively. Once comfortable, Akaashi buries his head into Bokuto’s neck and whispers “I love you,” as if it were a secret he’s kept all his life. He feels Bokuto’s chuckle before hearing it, and then again he feels Bokuto’s voice before hearing it, “I love you too babe,” a small kiss is placed on his temple, before Bokuto nuzzles his nose under Akaashi’s chin.  

.

. 

. 

Not having the heart to wake up the child, they sit in silence, curled into each other. Having not being able to have a goodnight’s sleep a few hours ago, Bokuto’s eyes begin to get too heavy to stay open, however, he stubbornly fights it in favour of watching the young boy who’s still asleep. That is until Akaashi begins to softly hum him to sleep, whilst running his hand through his hair; a good five seconds of that and Bokuto is out like a light.

The silence however, doesn’t last long, it never does; it’s disrupted by a small chime – Akaashi’s phone. A text from Ujishima, information on the boy, just as Akaashi had requested.

It reads: ‘the couple that lived in the house were married – ages 25 and 30. There’s no child registered under their name, so either the child was born at home and they kept him there or they received him through family members. But it’s probably the former as neither of them have any living family members dating back 4 years – when the child was born. He doesn’t match any missing child cases either. I’ve investigate their neighborhood, asking around for more information but it seems the couple kept to themselves and no one’s seen anyone enter or exit the house other than them. I’ll try and dig for more information but it seems this is as good as we’re going to get.’

Upon hearing the chime of Akaashi’s phone Bokuto wakes up and reads the message over Akaashi’s shoulder, his grip around Akaashi’s waist tighten the slightest. Akaashi notices this, but he leaves it alone, as he understands the emotions Bokuto is experiencing right now.

Akaashi gives Ujishima a response, ‘Thank you.’ Simple, but it gets his message across. Ujishima is known for blunt and short responses, so it’s a win-win for both. He turns off his phone a places it back down onto his lap. And they fall into another silence, this time uncomfortable tension fills the room, they continue watching the child.

Bokuto’s right leg shakes, in turn Akaashi’s body moves with it. Akaashi sighs, he knows, why wouldn’t he? They’ve been married for years, an annoying habit to most but endearing to Akaashi; any body part of Bokuto’s that twitches or shakes for more than five seconds indicate that Bokuto has something on his mind, and wants to voice it, but won’t until – “Yes Koutarou?”

“What’s going to happen to him Keiji?” In an instant the shaking stops.

Akaashi leans further into Bokuto’s chest before letting out a long breath, “I don’t know Kou…if what Ujishima wrote was true, about not having any living family members to take custody of him, then he’ll most probably go to the orphanage.” At the mention of orphanage Bokuto perks up, _fantastic! He can stay at the orphanage across the hospital! Tendou would treat him so well!!!_

Before Bokuto has a chance to voice his thoughts, something in front of him begins to move – the boy. Two pair of eyes watch for more movement from the young child.

He turns around, now facing the window, his features crinkle up, due to the light that had seeped through the blinds.

Arms begin to move up. Both hands used to rub his eyes awake. The two men slowly stand up, afraid of making any sudden movements.

His eyes slowly open, but are closed instantly due to the LED lights fixed into the ceiling. He tries again, this time blinking over and over again until he’s adjusted to the bright lights. He stares up at the ceiling, confused as to where he was.

At this point Akaashi and Bokuto are a good arm’s length away from the foot of the bed. Just enough for their shadows to somewhat ‘loom’ over the boy’s body.

After looking at the ceiling for a good while, the boy decides to slowly sit up. Whilst in the progress of trying to get up he freezes, his eyes land on the two shadowy figures that ‘cover’ his blanketed legs. His slowly lifts his head up, eyes following the shadows to its bodies. He goes stiff once his eyes land on the face of the two men, who stand in front of him. 

Excitement takes over and Bokuto lets out a tiny whisper, “Hey Hey Hey there little guy,” he lifts his right hand up slightly to give the boy a tiny wave.

The boy’s eyes instantly watch the raised hand before – “AHHHHHHHHH!!!!” a blood curdling cry is released from his chest. His hands go to his head, clutching it, tightly. The boy starts vomiting words out of his mouth: “Sorry!” “Forgive!” “No more!” “No more hurt!!” “No hurt!!!!”

Before Bokuto could ask the boy what was wrong he’s quickly shoved onto the floor, bombarded with commands from Akaashi, telling him to “Get down! Get down. Get on your knees Koutarou.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bahahah remember when I said they'll finally interact with the kid this chapter? Yeah well I didn't technically lie! ^_^ Bokuto said one sentence, InTeRaCtIoN~   
> Nah but yeah they will interact with the kid a lot more in the next chapter! I SWEAR.   
> OH!!! I also got hit with an idea during my studies, so i wrote down a whole lil side story, from this main story XD. It's gonna be released on Akaashi's B'day though! So look forward to that as well, it's filled with some feels, but fluff. I actually really like it!!   
> Comments and Kudos are greatly appreciated ₍₍ (ง Ŏ౪Ŏ)ว ⁾⁾  
> Till then (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧


	5. Pancakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chew. Chew. Chew.  
> A satisfied and delighted sounds comes out of the boy as he swallows the food, the sounds startles the boy as he’s quick to cover his mouth, eyes wide and fearful. Bokuto chuckles, “and how do you suppose you’re going to eat with your hands covering your mouth?” He wriggles his eyebrows before lifting up another loaded fork. The two men watch in amusement as the boy puts his hands down and eagerly opens his mouth for more, having a slight bounce to him as he chews, while he watches Bokuto cut more. Forgetting his fear for now as his brain – and stomach – are occupied with the heavenly fluff that is pancakes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEEEYYY!!! Sorry it's nearly been a month since I've updated!! This chapter took me a bit to finish.  
> To clarify, I believe that Shouyou, though goes through a lot, opens up pretty quickly. Like he's one to trust easily-ish, depending on the vibe the person gives off. So yeah, keep that in mind.  
> As for the title, I had no idea what to call this soooo....  
> Alsoooo tomorrow is Akaashi's b'day, so I'll be posting up a story for that. It's gonna be the first input to the mini series following this main one!! I have two ideas for Christmas as well, so look out for that!  
> Anywho! Please enjoy this chapter!!

Having just woken up with a dry throat the screams didn’t last long. The room’s silence were then replaced with wheezes, broken ones, that come out of the child. Who’s still trying to scream.

Bokuto sits cross legged in front of the room door, to stop anyone that may enter – as per Akaashi’s command. With hands balled up and placed in the middle of his knotted legs Bokuto watches as Akaashi slowly crawls his way closer towards the child, stopping every few seconds to see if the distance was comfortable with the child. As predicted, the child is too focused on screaming – well wheezing – to even notice the closing distance between him and Akaashi.

Bokuto’s eyes and ears are soon pulled away from the two as he begins to hear footsteps hurrying towards them – the room. Before the nurse was able to even touch the door knob, Bokuto opens it. He pokes his head out of the tiny crack, looks up at the nurse, “Akaashi said that no one is allowed in.” With this the nurse nods her head in understanding before turning around and walking away in a calmly fashion. _It’s scary how much authority Akaashi holds over this ward._ Bokuto doesn’t have much time to dwell on the topic as another blood curdling cry fills the room once again.

Bokuto looks up, it seems Akaashi had gotten a bit too confident and stood up – only to half way before the child noticed.

Akaashi is quick to respond, moving back to a safe distance and slowly crouches back onto the floor, in an attempt to make himself look ‘smaller’ than the young boy on the bed.  He puts his hands in his laps. Bokuto in turn fixes up his form, sitting as formal as he did the day he had ask Akaashi’s parents for their son’s hand in marriage.

The child’s scream begin to decrease in volume as he watches for more movement from the two men – Akaashi specifically. He screams for a few more minutes until he could no longer. The boy coughs and pants, trying to get as much air in his lungs. Other than that, he seems to have calmed down significantly.

Akaashi watches the heart rate monitor, waiting for the boy’s heart to get to a somewhat normal rate before deciding to speak. Bokuto, still sitting in front of the door, watches and waits patiently.

He chooses his words carefully, as the next thing he says may put the boy into another spiralling panic attack. He takes a deep breath before speaking softly, “Do you remember anything?”

The boy opens his mouth – ready to scream his lungs out once again, but words are replaced with coughs. Akaashi is half way up to standing before he remembers he has to stay low, so he goes back down and crawls his way to the side table – slowly – keeping in mind not to startle the boy, Akaashi slowly lifts his right hand up, making sure it’s within the boy’s eye sight before slowly moving it towards the jug on the table. The boy watches his every movement but doesn’t scream nor react badly, so Akaashi’s counting that as progress – ish.

Letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, Akaashi proceeds to lift the jug of water up slowly, before gently tilting it, letting it pour into the orange coloured plastic cup that also sits on top of the table. All whilst making sure that all his actions are within the child’s sight.

He watches as Akaashi slowly lifts up the cup of water, making sure to lean back and away from the cup. Once the boy realises he no longer has any more bed to back up into, he looks back at the still on coming cup, staring at it, before smacking the cup out of Akaashi’s hand. The sound of plastic meeting tiles resound throughout the room.

It goes deathly silent.

“SORRY!!!” the boy scrambles off the bed – well tries to. In his frantic attempt of getting off the bed the young boy’s legs get tangled in the blankets, causing the boy to stumble out of the bed, face meeting cold wet tiles. The boy however, quickly recovers from the fall as he gets on his knees and proceeds to scoop up the spilt water from the floor and brings his hands to his lips. Before he’s able to drink any sort of water Akaashi swiftly shoves his hands under the boy’s armpits and hastily places him on the bed. Due to shock, the boy doesn’t have enough time to process that he’s been touched.

When his brain finally catches up, the boy scrambles to the middle of the bed and wraps himself up in the blanket. Hiding himself from the outside world.

Akaashi watches as the pile of blanket shakes; knowing he can’t deal with this himself, he beckons for Bokuto to come over, because if anyone’s going to get this child to open up it’s going to be his dear husband Bokuto; who in fact had worked part time at an orphanage – the one across the road actually – before becoming a full time fireman.

Bokuto, who’s been sitting in front of the door, observing the interaction between his husband and the child, stands up – because the child is still covering his body and face with the hospital’s blanket – and makes his way towards the two, slowly, of course.

Once next to the table, Bokuto picks up the other plastic cup and proceeds to pick up the jug of water, filling the cup to half way. Following Akaashi’s example, Bokuto turns around, body now facing the small shaking bundle on the bed. He takes a deep breath before speaking to the curled up child, “drink. You’re dehydrated.” He holds the drink out towards the child – who’s still hiding from them – whilst giving him the biggest smile.

They wait patiently for the child to crawl out from his ‘cave.’

10 minutes passed without an sort of movement from the bundle.

Another 5 and the they see slight movement. Small part of the blanket is lifted up, revealing a pair of big, puffy, worn out eyes.

Bokuto’s bright smile is still there – basically plastered onto his face at this point – only growing wider upon seeing the child’s eyes. He doesn’t dare make a move however, opting to wait for the child to take the other step – to meet him half way.

Those big hazel brown eyes shifts from side to side looking at the two men then at the bright orange plastic cup, then at the man with the wild white and black hair. The young boy stares for a few more minutes before slowly sitting up, the blanket falling around him. He rests his hands on top of his lap, balled up, staring once again. But this time just at the cup, staring at the contents within the cup. Akaashi watches as a tiny spark of curiosity shines through the boy’s eyes. He moves closer to the edge of the bed, moving so that his legs are dangling off the side, now fully facing the two men. Again his eyes continue to stare at the cup.

Bokuto’s smiles doesn’t flatter, he decides to move the cup closer to the child, by an inch. The only reaction they received was a twitch and nothing else. Once again another standoff between the boy and the cup begins.

The boy finally looks back up at the two men. His eyes seem to be questioning them. But too scared to utter the question. Bokuto understanding what the child wants, he nods his head, extends his arms and expands his smile. He stares at the cup one last time before lifting up his own arms, slowly reaching out for the cup, watching the two men – looking for any sudden movements from them.

Small timid hands cup both sides – Bokuto’s hand remain on the bottom, keeping the cup up; making sure to keep physical contact to zero – he lifts up the cups slowly, eyebrows scrunching up in concentration. Akaashi watches in fascination, the thought that a simple thing as holding a cup, or even seeing the cup itself must be new for the young boy – if the incident before was anything to go by.

The two men watch as the boy lifts and moves the cup slowly towards him. Within a few seconds however, the cup is slipping through the boy’s hands. After years of training and becoming the area’s top fireman, Bokuto’s reflex have been sharpened to lightning fast; Bokuto’s hands catch the falling cup within milliseconds.

He young boy’s eyes widen by a millimetre before he begins to open his mouth, Bokuto however beats him to it, “no no no, hey little guy, it’s okay. Here let me help you.” He lifts the cup up, properly holding it and slowly lifts it towards the child’s mouth – stopping every few seconds, watching for a negative reaction from the young kid. The most he gets is a few twitches – which in turns moves the child back a few centimetres. So Bokuto coaxes the child, assuring him, “hey hey hey, everything’s alright. The cup won’t hurt you – I won’t hurt you. I promise I’ll take it back once you drink all the liquid.”

The boy stares right into Bokuto’s eyes – staring into his soul. He stares for a few seconds before easing up a bit. He watches Bokuto for a bit longer before slowly opening his mouth. Bokuto is stunned for a bit before his smile once again widens. He takes this as his que to – finally – lift the cup up to the child’s mouth, before gently tilting it ever so slowly.

The boy drinks – chugs – the water up like a man that’s been stuck in the desert for days. _Well he was in a fire for who knows how long._

Water dribbles down the boy’s chin, as he’s still inexperienced in drinking from a cup. Realising this Bokuto grabs a piece of tissue, wiping up the water before leaving it there under his chin to catch any more falling liquid.

Akaashi watches as this picture perfect painting of his husband and this young child begins to unfold in front of him. _Family_ is the feeling that’s given off from the pair – well Bokuto at least, a bit too early to just assume the boy is that comfortable with the two of them, or even Bokuto. And Akaashi thought he couldn’t love this man more than he already did, but Bokuto being Bokuto proves him wrong every time.

Once the boy finishes drinking up all the water – every last drop – Bokuto takes the cup away, just as promised. He places it back onto the side table before getting comfy on the floor once again.

The room falls back into – this time – a calming silence.

Then.

“Fire” a wavering voice says into the silence whilst looking down at his hands; his fidgeting hands.

“Huh?” Akaashi looks up at him blankly. It dawns on him that he’s answering the question he’d asked him before the whole water incident. Before Akaashi could ask him a follow up question the boy begins to ‘speak,’ however, the words come out as incoherent mumble. Neither of the two adults could understand what he was saying except for the words: “fire,” “sorry,” “no hurt” and, “hurt.”

Bokuto, as usual, is quick to react, “hey hey hey, calm down there buddy. Can you speak slowly? We can’t understand a thing you’re saying.” He says this all whilst restraining himself from reaching out to pat or hug the poor kid.

The child stares at Bokuto. His head tilts to the right, looking like a confused owl….well owlet in this case. Again he opens his mouth to ‘speak’ and once again, incoherent mumbles spew from his mouth. This time, however, slowly. The men still couldn’t understand a single word.

That was when it clicked in Akaashi’s head. He mumbles, “can’t speak properly.” The statement is not directed at anyone, but it doesn’t go unheard by Bokuto, whom instantly swings his head over to face Akaashi. So he repeats it again, this time directed to Bokuto, “I don’t think he can speak properly. The only words he probably knows are as we heard them: sorry, no hurt, no more and now fire. He probably knows more words that relate to pain than anything else.”

At the mere mention of the word ‘pain’ the young boy begins to sound like a broken record, “sorry, no more, no pain, hurt, sorry, sorry, sorry…..”

The child’s sudden panic attack starts to affect Bokuto, who’s now beginning to hyperventilate and freak out himself.

Akaashi decides that its his time to shine, though Bokuto is good with kids, Akaashi’s profession involves him to calm down patients that freak out last minute before an operation, or angry parents that go ballistic at doctors and nurses because they think they’re intitled or something like that – but getting off track here. He crawls closer towards the child, slowly reaches out towards the boy’s chest and gently places the palm of his hand against his chest; over his rapidly beating heart. The boy freezes – midway in freaking out – and swings his head over to face Akaashi. His big wet hazel brown eyes boar into Akaashi’s, too scared to move, dare not to. Grateful for the fact he doesn’t slap his hand away this time – though because it’s out of fear. Progress is what Akaashi likes to call it.

The boy’s still frozen and taking in harsh breaths at this point – so is Bokuto. Akaashi starts with the boy first as he’s the worst, calmly says, “we’re going to take some deep breaths together. Okay?” He looks at the boy for conformation, but all he gets in return is a very very confused and frightened look. The boy probably has no idea what he means, but that’s fine – he really meant for Bokuto to hear him. Instead of hoping for the boy to understand him verbally, he hopes for him to understand him physically. So, he takes the boy’s right hand and places it flat on his own chest and starts the demonstration.

“Take a deep breath in.”

_Inhale_ – their hands go up, “hold it,” their hands stay ‘up.’

“Next we’re going to let all the air out”

_Exhale_ – their hands go down, Akaashi repeats this again three more times until the boy begins to understand what he means, so he follows along with Akaashi until his breathing is back to normal and he no longer has tears streaking down his face.

Akaashi does 5 more for extra precaution, then let go of the boy’s hand and removes his hand from the boy’s chest. The three sit in silent for a few minutes until Akaashi checks his watch and sees it’s 11.00am, which is way pass the child's breakfast time – as if on cue the boy’s stomach lets out a loud gurgling sound, indicating his hunger. The boy clutches his stomach in both fear and embarrassment – but mainly fear. He tightens his grip upon hearing Bokuto’s chuckle.

The fact that the boy hasn’t eaten anything since last night is bad in itself, but to add on top of Akaashi’s worries, he’s malnourish as well. Akaashi gives a small chuckle of his own at the boy’s facial expression – though he looks scared out of his wits, Akaashi can’t help but think he looks cute. Akaashi extends his right arm out and his hand lands on top of the boys head – who tenses up but doesn’t move. Akaashi gives the boy an affectionate hair ruffle whilst saying, “why don’t we get you some breakfast?” Akaashi then stands up slowly, watching for any signs of an oncoming panic attack, but it doesn’t come. He notices the boy is too preoccupied with putting his two hands on top of his head – where Akaashi’s were just seconds ago. Somewhat confused, but Akaashi could tell the boy looks like he’s in deep thought. Attempting not to break the boy’s thought Akaashi looks at Bokuto and mouths ‘be right back.’ With a nod from Bokuto, Akaashi turns towards the door and walks out, heads towards the kitchen to get the boy’s breakfast.

.

.

.

Akaashi comes back with a tray filled with steaming hot pancakes, along with some plain vanilla yogurt, orange juice and mixed berries. He opens the door gently with his left hand, whilst balancing the tray of food with his right. Bokuto at this point has moved from kneeling on the floor to sitting in the chair that was placed – by Bokuto he assumed – right in front of the boy. Either the boy doesn’t mind or he hasn’t noticed, as he still has his hands placed on top of his head, eyes filled with curiosity and wonder?

The smell of pancakes smell too good to be ignored as the boy looks up and around the room in search for the sweet scent. His eyes land on the fluffiest looking pancakes ever. Akaashi gives the boy a small smile before slowly walking over to him; the boy’s eyes are too trained on the golden brown fluff to even notice. They’re slowly placed in front of him, as Bokuto slides the table in front of the boy in time for Akaashi to place the tray of goodies in front of him.

The boy looks at the tray of food for a while, not moving – not knowing what to do. Bokuto chuckles at the boy’s lost expression, at this the boy whips his head around to stare at the man, giving him a puzzled look. “You’ve never eaten or seen these have you?”

The boy’s brows deepen even more, making the boy look slightly constipated. “sor-.”

Bokuto gives the boy a big smile and without hesitation grabs the plastic knife and fork – that Akaashi was holding. Bokuto looks at the boy, “watch me, okay?” Though still confused the young boy slowly nods. Bokuto reaches over the boy – who’s not frozen, just a bit stiffed, eyes watching Bokuto’s every move – grabs the butter, places it on top of the pancakes, spreads an even coat of delicious melted fat all over them before he picks up the container of syrup and drizzles it all over.

Bokuto looks over at the boy, his smile widens as he notices the young boy’s eyes have widen in amazement. However, that small glint of amazement is wiped out once the boy realizes that Bokuto was looking at him. But, unfazed, Bokuto stabs the pancake with the fork before using the knife to cut a bite size piece and lifts the fork up to the boys mouth. If the boy was made to drink water off the ground Bokuto didn’t want to think how they made the boy eat, so he opt to feeding the boy for now.

As predicted the boy moved back and away from the fork. Looking at it as if it were going to stab his tongue – he squeezes his mouth shut, refusing to let the fork pass them. However, the delicious smell and his hunger had won over, he slowly opens his mouth, allowing Bokuto – who was waiting patiently for the boy – to push the fork through his mouth. Bokuto chuckles and pulls the fork out of the boy’s mouth, as he had attempted to chew the pancake whilst the fork was still in there.

“…”

“…”

_Chew. Chew. Chew._

A satisfied and delighted sounds comes out of the boy as he swallows the food, the sounds startles the boy as he’s quick to cover his mouth, eyes wide and fearful. Bokuto chuckles, “and how do you suppose you’re going to eat with your hands covering your mouth?” He wriggles his eyebrows before lifting up another loaded fork. The two men watch in amusement as the boy puts his hands down and eagerly opens his mouth for more, having a slight bounce to him as he chews, while he watches Bokuto cut more. Forgetting his fear for now as his brain – and stomach – are occupied with the heavenly fluff that is pancakes.

Akaashi smiles lovingly as he watches his husband continue to stuff the eager child’s mouth with pancakes and berries – the boy’s face expression changes with every new berry that gets stuffed into his mouth; raspberries – scrunched up, blueberries – confused, strawberries – eyes widen and once again, a delighted sound is released.

He watches for a bit longer before quietly making his way towards the door, grabbing the child’s files that were placed in the holder outside on the door. After watching and talking to the child for a few hours he realized he needed to update the kid’s files.

Room: 116                             

Name: –

Age: 4

Doctor: Bokuto Akaashi Keiji

Medical State on Admission: Dehydration, intake of carbon dioxide, minor burns, fractures – hands/wrists, arms, and right leg

Additional Information:

  * No sudden loud sounds as the boy may have trauma from fire as well as childhood.
  * _Stay on the floor when approaching him – slowly._
  * _Scared of people taller than him – make yourself look smaller than him._
  * _Keep hands relatively low, don’t suddenly raise it up._
  * _Can’t speak properly, except for the words: pain, no more, no pain, hurt, fire and sorry._
  * _Like pancakes and strawberries._
  * _Doesn’t know how to drink from a cup or eat with forks and knifes._
  * _No type of physical contact, if needed call for Dr.Akaashi._



Once Akaashi had finish writing all the extra information on the child, he placed the files back into the holder. Akaashi looks down at his watch, 12.00pm, _nap time_ , he gently opens the door, peeking his head inside, being cautious – just incase the boy gets scared – before walking in. The sight that is played before him is like a scene straight out of his dreams – dreams of the future for both him and his husband – tray of food now completely empty, wiped clean in fact. However, it was not the empty food tray that made Akaashi’s heart flutter – feeling like a little school girl that’s looking at her crush – it was in the fact that the now full boy was laying down, asleep, whilst his husband ever so gently sings twinkle twinkle little star – off key – to sooth the boy to sleep. The complete and blissful face Bokuto makes has Akaashi falling further down the rabbit hole, to the point of no return.

_Man~ I_ _’_ _m in deep._

Bokuto notices a presence in the room and turns his head, he looks at Akaashi and gives him the brightest smile he’s seen since the boy’s arrival, Akaashi smiles back and extends his left arm out, Bokuto gets up slowly and makes his way to Akaashi as to not wake up the boy and takes his hand. They look over at the sleeping _angel_ before Akaashi leans his head on Bokuto’s shoulder, who in turn, wraps his arm protectively around his waist. They then turn and make their way out of the room.

When they’re outside they stand at the window looking in, watching the sleeping boy in silence for a bit. Bokuto takes a deep breath before releasing his hold on Akaashi’s waist in favour of taking his husband’s two hands and turns him around to face him.  Bokuto looks into his eyes determinedly, set on what he’s about to say, “Let’s adopt him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh!!! Also thank to everyone that congratulated me!!! Been living my best life! Sleeping in all day.  
> Oh! Also I decided to make a twitter, so i could update you all on chapter updates and what not! Follow if you'd like!! https://twitter.com/ThatTries (Haven't made any tweets yet, cause I literally just made it)  
> Okay! See you tomorrow for Akaashi's B'day!!!


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